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Month: October 2017

3D printing is taking over the consumer market. More and more people are finding out about this cool “new” technology. 3D printing actually began in the 1980s, but only gained massive popularity recently after a popular 3D printing technology patent expired, which happened in 2009. Before that, 3D printers cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to purchase. After the patent expired, manufacturers were able to create cheaper 3D printing machines, which allowed regular consumers to be able to afford it.

3D printing enables us to print virtually anything we can imagine and that includes surf fins and surfing board parts! Here are some cool examples of 3D printed surf fins:

This orange colored fin has a simple design and is very light. A little bit hollow, this 3D printed fin is a product of a Dutch company called Westkust. They believe that surfing should have a more open-source mentality. With that in mind, this model is good enough, but those who are able to use a 3D modeling software and has a knowledge and know-how in building surf fins can definitely improve it further.

This is another cool 3D printed surf fin! It was inspired and modeled after a Humpback whale. This is a hollow, Warp Drive BLEF foiled surfboard fin. It looks thick and durable, but the material is actually very flexible. This fin mimics the skin of Humpbacks and gives it a realistic feel. It’s like having a hunchback fin attached to your surfboard! 3D printing certainly gives you more ways to realize your creations.

This one has a very cool and interesting design. The materials used for this fin are PET and PLA. While the author initially thought that PLA may warp from the sun, it actually hasn’t after a few months of use. This proves that this surfboard fin has provided the unique design and robustness that you can never find if you just look for replacement fins from shops and stores. If you want to print yourself a copy of the fin, you can grab the files here.

These are gull-wing 3D printed fins. If you are a fan of seagulls and/or loves to surf in a seagull filled area, then you will surely love this one. The shape captures the wings of seagulls perfectly. The tall design makes this fin excellent for beginners.

This 3D printed fin, on the other hand, boasts a very common and simple design. The purpose of this one is to show that 3D printing technology allows anyone and everyone to put their ideas to life and to be able to create replacement parts with or without personalization, tweaks, or customization to make it truly yours.

Now this one looks really elegant! The silver design looks very high end and it looks like a premium fin. Best way to print this kind of fin is to use a high-end filament, which you can buy locally or from online stores like 3D Printing Canada. These kinds of fins cost around $75, but I’ll tell you that you’ll certainly pay much cheaper if you 3D print it, plus you can print other stuff! You can grab its file here.